Aircraft are usually provided with a parking brake feature that actuates the wheel brakes to prevent the aircraft from rolling when it is parked. In traditional aircraft brake systems, the parking brakes fully actuate the brake mechanisms and mechanically or hydraulically lock the brake mechanisms in their fully actuated positions. In other words, conventional aircraft parking brake systems have only two brake actuation states: completely off or fully on. In most cases full brake actuation is not needed to prevent the aircraft from rolling on the ground. Such full brake actuation can result in excessive loading, fatigue, and stress on the brake mechanisms, especially after many parking brake application cycles. Consequently, the brake mechanisms and surrounding structure of the aircraft are designed to withstand the high loading caused by parking brake actuation. This design objective results in heavy and bulky brake mechanisms and support structures. The additional weight can become significant in large commercial aircraft, which may have eight or more wheel brakes, each utilizing multiple brake actuators. For example, an aircraft may include a total of 32 brake actuators (eight brakes and four brake actuators per brake).